Genesis 14:18-22 has Malki-Tsedek, king of Shalem, as a priest of El Elyon. His blessing of Av-Ram after the War of the Kings is given.
Psalm 110:4 contains the only other direct reference in the Tanach to Malki-Tsedek, making clear that this is the name of the High Priest in what by then was Yeru-Shala'im. We can treat El Elyon therefore as the specific local chief god of Shalem, absorbed when the seven hilltop villages were formed into the conurbation of Yeru-Shala'im, recognising in doing so that he is a Kena'ani (Canaanite) El god.
There is an irony that the name of this particular divinity has been retained at the very opening of the Amidah, the central prayer of Judaism; but the above explains why.
BARUCH ATAH YHVH ELOHEYNU VE ELOHEY AVOTEYNU ELOHEY AV-RAHAM ELOHEY YITSCHAK VE ELOHEY YA'AKOV HA EL HA GADOL HA GIBOR VE HA NOR'A EL ELYON GOMEL CHASADIM TOVIM VE KONEH HA KIL VE ZOCHER CHASDEI AVOT U MEYVI GO'EL LIVNEI VENEYHEM LEMA'AN SHEMO BE AHAVAH
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ וֵאלהֵי אֲבותֵינוּ אֱלהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלהֵי יַעֲקב הָאֵל הַגָּדול הַגִּבּור וְהַנּורָא אֵל עֶלְיון גּומֵל חֲסָדִים טובִים וְקונֵה הַכּל וְזוכֵר חַסְדֵּי אָבות וּמֵבִיא גואֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַעַן שְׁמו בְּאַהֲבָה
Blessed are you, YHVH our god, god of our fathers, god of Av-Raham, god of Yitschak and god of Ya'akov, the great, mighty and awesome god, El Elyon, who bestows bountiful kindness, who creates all things, who remembers the piety of the patriarchs, and who, in love, brings a redeemer to their children's children, for the sake of his name.
Elyon means "high" and generally denotes a high place where a shrine has been established. Thus El Elyon means "god of the high place", rather than "god most high", as it is usually translated. This latter meaning stems from Rabbinic times when the home of the gods was transferred upwards, from the mountain-tops to the heavens themselves.
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